Pre-tied necktie



Aug. 7, 1962 s'. c. PULITZER PRE-TIED NECKTIE Filed April 4, 1960INVENTOR SIDNEY PUL/TZER BY 9 fez/060v ATTORNEYS United 3,947,9l8Patented Aug. 7, 1962 3,t'i47,9ll8 PRE-TIED NEQKTE Sidney C. Pulitzer,New tlrleans, La., assignor to Wambley, Inc., New Orleans, La, acorporation of Louisiana Filed Apr. 4, 1960, Set. No. 19,675 1 Claim.(til. 24-65) This invention relates to neckties and more particularly toneckties of the pre-tied, clip-on variety.

Clip-on neckties, particularly clip-n bow ties, are well known andheretofore such ties have usually comprised a strip of tie materialwhich is folded lengthwise upon itself to simulate the wings of aregular hand-tied bow tie and rnidwayof the ends of the wings a separatestrip of tie material encircles the folded strip in simulation of theknotted part of a hand tied bow tie. This latter strip usually alsoengages some form of clip means at the rear of a simulated knot part andstitching joins the ends of the simulated knot strip and connects it andthe clip to the first mentioned elongated folded strip forming the tiewings.

Though the foregoing type of necktie presents a general effect of ahand-tied necktie and is widely used, it is expensive to manufacture andit is frequently apparent to the casual observer that such ties are not,in fact, handtied because either that knot part does not look natural orbecause part of the clip can be seen.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pretied clip-on tiehaving none of the disadvantages of present commonly used pro-tied ties.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide for apro-tied bow tie an improved one piece tie support and clip having nomoving parts and which may be manufactured economically of inexpensivematerials such as molded plastic or metallic sheet material.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combined tie support andclip which permits the use of a pretied bow tie that can be tied to thesupport in an actual bow knot so that the tie is substantiallyindistinguishable from a regular hand-tied bow tie.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bow tie support and clipof the foregoing nature which is readily put in its position of use in asingle operation and is substantially self-centering so as to requireminimal adjustment and when the clip has been placed in its position ofuse it is entirely concealed from the view of a casual observer.

Other objects and their attendant advantages will become apparent as thefollowing detailed description is read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tie which may be employed with the clip ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a'blank from which the clip of the inventionmay be constructed;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the blank of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional side view of the blank of FIG. 2 after ithas been bent to form the combined support and clip of the inventiontaken substantially on the line 4-4 of FIG. 5 and showing a tiepositioned preliminary to its being tied to said clip;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of the clip and tie shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a reduced front elevational view of a bow tie secured by theclip of the inventionrin its position of use; and

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross sectional View taken substantially on theline 7-7 of FIG. 6.

Referring now to the drawings, the bow tie it illustrated in FIG. 1 maybe constructed of plies of material in the same general manner as aregular bow tie and has end parts 12, 14- which may form the wings ofthe bow when tied and which are joined together by a narrow, relativelyshort, intermediate part 16 which replaces the usual neck-encirclingpart of the regular bow tie and has only sufiicient length to form theknot of the how when the tie member of FIG. 1 is tied to the clip of theinvention as hereinafter described.

The clip part of the invention may, if desired, be constructed from afiat, preferably stamped, blank 18 of metal or plastic sheet materialand comprises a central, substantially triangular body part 20 having anupper transverse edge 21 and a pair of downwardly converging side edges22, 23. A central opening 24 is pro vided in the body part and the upperedge 25 thereof forms with the upper edge 21 of the body part agenerally rectangular horizontal crossbar 26. The side edges of theopening 24 form with the side edges 22, 23 of the body a pair ofdownwardly converging side arms 27, 23 which terminate in a downwardextension 29, and the upper corners of the body 20 have integraltherewith a pair of outwardly sloping arms 36, 32.

The described blank is formed into the combined tie support and clip ofthe invention by bending the side arms 2'7, 28 upwardly with respect tothe crossbar 26 substantially along the fold or bend lines indicatedgenerally at 36, 38 in FIG. 2. Thereafter, the extension 29 is bentdownwardly with respect to the side arms substantially along the bendline 39 to form a hook which is adapted to be engaged over the collarband it) of a shirt as illustrated in FIG. 7. The opening 24 andhorizontal bar 26 form a support for the tie of FIG. 1 as more fullydescribed hereinafter and the extension arms 30, 32 are adapted to bebent slightly inwardly and received under a wearers collar 41 asillustrated in FIG. 6 to insure that the clip and tie are at all timesretained properly positioned.

In lieu of forming the combined support and clip from a flat blank whichis bent to form the completed clip as described in the foregoingparagraph, the clip may be readily manufactured in completed form ofplastic material by well known injection molding or other plasticmanufacturing techniques.

In making the bow, the tie 10 is first threaded through the opening 24as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 so that the center part 16 of the tie isbehind the front face of the crossbar 2d. The end of the tie whichextends below the clip is then folded forwardly and upwardly back onitself to form a loop and this is moved into a horizontal position, withthe loop and free end equi-spaced on opposite sides of the middle of theclip. The second end of the tie, which extends upwardly from the crossarm, is brought forwardly and downwardly over the crossbar and over themidpoint of the first folded end of the tie, and this second end isfolded forwardly and upwardly to form a loop as was done with the firstend. The second loop may then be moved to a position behind the looppart of the first end and there tucked behind the folded first end andthrough the circle of tie material formed when the second end wasbrought over the looped first end. The two loops may then be pulled awayfrom each other to tighten the knot formed by the second loop and thefree ends may be suitably adjusted and evened :as is done during thetieing of a conventional hand-tied bow tie. Upon completion of thisstep, the necktie on its clip-support has the identical appearance of ahand-tied bow tie with wings 42, 44 and a knot part 46. To insure thatthe bow is not accidentbut not through the exposed front face of theknot part of the knot above and/or below the crossbar 26 as illustratedin FIG. 7 at d8, 50 and extended as far as but not through the exposedfront face of the knot part to so as to interconnect the several pliesof tie material in the region of the knot to retain the tie in itspre-tied condition.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the crossbar 26forms an important feature of the invention in that it alfords a supportor form for the tie knot so that the latter is natural appearing inevery respect. To this end, therefore, the vertical spacing between theupper and lower edges 21 and 25 of the crossbar is desirablysubstantially equal to or slightly less than the corresponding dimensionof a conventional knot of a hand-tied bow tie, and the transversedimension of the bar is desirably substantially equal to or slightlygreater than the corresponding dimension of a conventional hand-tied bowknot. The opening 24 need not be triangular as shown but may be of anysuitable shape which affords a tie-supporting crossbar having verticaland transverse dimensions substantially equal to the correspondingdimensions of a conventional knot of a handtied bow tie.

The dimensions of the side arms 27, 28 of the body part 20 of the clipshould be selected so that when the side arms are folded upwardly andthe hook is formed by the downward folding of the extension 29 the upperhorizontal edge of the hook part, formed by the fold line 39, does notextend above the top edge of the knot part of the tie, so that the hookwill be entirely concealed behind the knot. It is desirable also thatthe arms 30, 32 should have sufiioient length that their outer ends willengage the crease between the shirt neckband and the collar before thehook can be raised clear of the neckband. With this arrangement the tiecannot be readily dislodged by being moved accidentally upwardly withrespect to the necktie but can only be disengaged from the neckband byadditional manipulation on the part of the wearer as by turning thecollar partly upwardly.

The use of the invention should be apparent from the foregoingdescription. It should be understood that the clip of the invention maybe manufactured by conventional stamping and/ or bending processes or byplastic molding process to produce an eflicient, easily attached,self-centering tie support at considerably less cost than is required inthe manufacture of bent wire or spring types of clips which have beencommonly employed in the prior art. More importantly, it will beobserved that the clip of the invention affords tie support meanswhereby a pre-tied bow tie can be tied to the support in a naturalappearing bow knot which is substantially indistinguishable from ahand-tied bow tie.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the clip of theinvention is susceptible of a variety of changes and modificationswithout, however, departing from the scope and spirit of the attendantclaim. Where in the claim the term sheet material is used, this includesWithout limitation any suitable material such as molded plastic ormetallic material.

What is claimed is:

A combined support and clip for a pre-tied bow tie comprising a memberof sheet material having upwardly and outwardly extending side armsadapted to be received beneath the collar of a wearer, said memberhaving a central tie supporting part having laterally spaced side edgesintegrally joined to the inner ends of said side arms and havingvertically spaced upper and lower edges, a downwardly open hook spacedbehind said central part, hook-supporting means having a center partintegrally connected to said hook and including parts extendinglaterally in opposite directions away from said hook towards the sideedges of said central part, said laterally extending parts having outerend parts, and means connecting the outer end parts to said member atlaterally spaced positions on opposite sides of said central part,whereby said hook is connected to said member entirely clear of thevertically spaced upper and lower edges of said central part,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS350,672 French K, Oct. 12, 1886 386,396 Frees July 17, 1888 873,734 LeSage Feb. 11, 1908 1,164,756 Schneller Dec. 21, 1915 1,248,291 Duit Nov.27, 1917 1,318,248 Willey Oct. 7, 1919 2,128,840 Molitor Aug. 30, 19382,941,212 Caparosa June 21, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 14,138 Great Britain1910 292,058 Switzerland Oct. 16, 1953

